Getting It Right For Every Child or GIRFEC as it is usually known, has been central to all government policies which support children, young people and their families since it was introduced in Scotland in 2006.
In our response to the recent consultation on assessment of wellbeing within the overall GIRFEC approach we stated that: “we feel the founding approach of GIRFEC is admirable but it feels dated and would benefit from a clean page revision.”
Our main comment is that all of the statutory and voluntary agencies who support children and young people should involve and consult with both parents, not just one of them. This is particularly important for the large number of separated families, but also applies to parents who live together.
Fathers and mothers are equally important to their children and they should both be included. In the 30% of families in which parents do not live together this focus on only one parent can result in the other parent becoming invisible.
We often hear on our helpline or at group meetings about one parent being shut out from engagement with GP or child mental health services or perceived as ‘optional’ or even irrelevant by health visitors or early years services.
We raised this point during the succession of stakeholder meetings in the run up to the Named Person legislation and then in further meetings after its referral back by the UK Supreme Court. We had the impression they were well received both by the civil servants running the consultations and by fellow stakeholders but there seems to be little trace of them in this consultation or in the supporting documents.
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